NJ Transit workers upset about possible switch to Aetna for health insurance

Union members and leadership packed Wednesday night’s NJ Transit board meeting to protest the agency’s negotiations for a new health care provider.

After years of coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna was the lowest bidder on a recent request for proposals to provide coverage to NJ Transit’s 12,000 union and non-union employees.

While their collective bargaining agreements allow NJ Transit to switch providers that offer equal or better coverage, the agency did not tell union leadership about the change even though this procurement process first began in December 2023, according to Orlando Riley, general chairman of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents bus employees and is the agency’s largest union.

Story continues below photo gallery

“The ATU and NJ Transit have a joint health plan welfare committee — it’s in our contract," Riley said. "This committee meets once a year in April to discuss the overall status of our health care plan. NJ Transit didn’t even mention this at the last meeting in April 2024. That’s insulting to say the least.”

NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett said the agency couldn’t discuss the procurement while bids were being requested and analyzed. The agency bids out its health care plan every so many years, Corbett said, but added the driving reason here was to save money.

“We’re under pressure to reduce our costs, be efficient as a provider — that’s our fiduciary responsibility in management but in no way is it a cure to cutting any benefits for employees,” Corbett said. “No way are we going to do anything that would have any adverse impact. They got us through the pandemic, a lot of really great workers. The last thing we want to do is make them unsettled.”

NJ Transit did not confirm whether the switch to Aetna has been finalized or if it is subject to board approval.

Among the biggest concerns raised about switching insurers is the potential change to the list of in-network providers, which could force employees to find new doctors, said Jerome Johnson, general chairman of SMART-TD, the union that represents ticket collectors and other train crew. He noted that some of his members have seen the same medical professionals for decades.

Increased risks to NJ Transit staff from unruly passengers

Bus drivers and train crews have also faced increased risks on the job from unruly passengers, Riley and Johnson said.

“Our members have to come to work on a daily basis with the understanding that we may be assaulted,” Johnson said, adding that an hour before Wednesday's meeting he heard that one of his members had been attacked by a customer with a bottle.

“They are the front-line employees who worked through the pandemic," he said. "Our members didn’t raise the fares . Our members are not the cause for the summer of hell . But our members have to worry about going home without being harmed.”

More: NJ Transit engineers strike averted for now as Biden takes emergency action

Last year, 14 NJ Transit train crew members sued the agency saying it has not gone far enough to protect them from assault, spitting, intimidation and threats from customers with guns and knives — incidents they allege spiked during and after the pandemic.

At least another 20 current and former NJ Transit employees have sued the agency in the last three years over allegations of sexual harassment, assault and retaliation, with some of those plaintiffs saying they have had to seek mental health services, go to the hospital for PTSD treatment and go out on medical leave .

Because of these additional risks and challenges with enrolling and retaining employees, especially bus drivers, a change in health care plans could exacerbate recruitment problems, Riley intimated.

“Great health care and pensions are the only two reasons you have employees working here today,” Riley said. “We’ve invested our sweat in this company. Several of our members lost their lives years ago. Do not turn your back on us.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Transit workers upset about possible switch to Aetna for health insurance